"Chapter Two: The Weirdo on Maple Street" is the second episode of the first season of the American supernatural horror-science fiction Stranger Things. It premiered on July 15, 2016, when it was released along with the rest of the first season on the American streaming service Netflix. "The Weirdo on Maple Street" was written and directed by series developers The Duffer Brothers.

Set in '80s, it is highly-influenced by its culture and features uncanny resemblances from 1980s film industry.^[1][2] The series is inspired and aesthetically informed by the works of Steven Spielberg, John Carpenter, Stephen King, and George Lucas, among others.^[3][4]

After finding Eleven (Millie Bobby Brown) in the woods, Michael (Finn Wolfhard) brings her to his house for the night. Lucas (Caleb McLaughlin) who seems wary of her, suggests the boys to tell Mike's mom right away. Mike points out that telling his mom about Eleven will just get them all grounded because they weren't supposed to be out at night looking for Will (Noah Schnapp).

The next day, Mike tries to get Eleven to sneak out of the house to the front door to make it look like she stumbled upon the house, and so that they could get help from his mom. Eleven rejects his idea and tells Michael that "bad people" are looking for her, and that telling someone about her whereabouts will only make things worse.

Meanwhile, Joyce (Winona Ryder) tells Chief Hopper (Charlie Heaton) about the creepy, static phone call she received. Hopper is reluctant to believe her story, but admits the charring on the phone from the surge of electricity is weird. Later on, Joyce heads to her workplace to buy a new phone and demand two weeks pay in advance from her boss. He shows some sympathy for Joyce after he realizes her kid is missing, and gives in.

Back at Mike's house, Eleven notices a picture of the four boys and points at Will. She knows him, but just before Mike can ask more questions, his mom comes home. Mike rushes Eleven to hide in his bedroom closet, which freaks her out. A flashback is shown where Eleven is being dragged to a dark cell in the Hawkins Laboratory. Mike comforts her, and Eleven trusts him enough to close the door. Lucas begins to trust her too, as Eleven uses her telekinetic abilities to close Mike bedroom door while Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) and Lucas look on in astonishment.

The cops find a drainpipe in the woods which leads to the Hawkins Laboratory, and they believe Will might have crawled through it. Eleven uses the boys' Dungeons and Dragons set to show them Will is hiding from a monster, which leads them to believe Will is still alive.

Joyce receives another creepy, static call which surges with electricity and burns her again. The lights in her house begin to turn on one by one, leading to Will's bedroom. Suddenly, one wall begins to move and take on some weird shapes. Joyce quickly runs out of the house and hides into her car, but later goes back into the house.

At Nancy's (Natalia Dyer) boyfriend Steve's (Joe Keery) party, Barbra "Barb" Holland (Shannon Purser), Nancy's friend, feels left out as the third wheel and went out to sit near the pool by herself, while the mysterious creature The Monster that took Will abducts Barb too.

• Winona Ryder as Joyce Byers, mother of Will Byers and Jonathan Byers
• David Harbour as Jim Hopper, chief of Hawkins Police Department
• Finn Wolfhard as Mike Wheeler, son of Karen and younger brother of Nancy, and one of three friends to Will Byers
• Millie Bobby Brown as Jane 'Eleven' Ives, a young girl with psychokinetic abilities and a limited vocabulary
• Gaten Matarazzo as Dustin Henderson, Will's friend
• Caleb McLaughlin as Lucas Sinclair, Will's friend
• Natalia Dyer as Nancy Wheeler, daughter of Karen, older sister of Mike, and the girlfriend of Steve Harrington.
• Charlie Heaton as Jonathan Byers, the older brother of Will Byers and the son of Joyce Byers.
• Cara Buono as Karen Wheeler, mother of Nancy and Mike and their toddler sister Holly.
• Matthew Modine as Dr. Martin Brenner, the scientist in charge of Hawkins Laboratory and the experiments performed there

• Noah Schnapp as Will Byers, the younger brother of Jonathan Byers and the son of Joyce Byers. He vanishes after encountering the monster
• Joe Keery as Steve Harrington, the boyfriend of Nancy Wheeler
• Shannon Purser as Barbara Holland, best friend of Nancy Wheeler.
• Ross Partridge as Lonnie Byers, the drunk, egotistical, and selfish ex-husband of Joyce Byers
• Rob Morgan as Deputy Powell, one of two Hopper's officers
• John Reynolds as Officer Callahan, another of Hopper's officers
• Randall P. Havens as Mr. Clarke , the Boy's science teacher
• Joe Chrest as Ted Wheeler
• Mark Steger as The Monster
• Chris Sullivan as Benny Hammond
• Andrew Benator as Elevator Scientist

The episode was directed and written by series developers The Duffer Brothers and co-produced by Duffer's along with Dan Cohen and Shawn Levy of 21 Laps Entertainment.

Pilot along the entire Stranger Things season was released on July 15, 2016 on Netflix as a part of its original programming.^[5][6]

According to Symphony Advanced Media, within the first 35 days of release, Stranger Things averaged around 14.07 million adults between the ages 18–49. This made it the third most-watched season of Netflix original content behind the first season of Fuller House and season four of Orange Is the New Black.^[7]

The episode received positive reviews from various media outlets and publications. In a lauded review of San Francisco Chronicle, Dave Wiegand wrote, "Stranger Things reminds us of a time marked by a kind of no-strings escapism. And as it does so, we find ourselves yearning for it because the Duffers have made it so irresistibly appealing. There may be other equally great shows to watch this summer, but I guarantee you won’t have more fun watching any of them than you will watching Stranger Things."^[8] Joshua Alston of The A.V. Club also reviewed it positively saying, "Balancing style and substance is always challenging for a series like Stranger Things, but the show is perfectly calibrated. It feels like watching a show produced during the era in which it’s set, but with the craft of today’s prestige television."^[9] Reviewing for HitFix, Alan Sepinwall said, "Over the course of the eight hours, the story and characters take on enough life of their own so that the references don't feel self-indulgent, and so that the series can be appreciated even if you don't know the plot of E.T. or the title font of Stephen King's early novels (a huge influence on the show's own opening credits) by heart."^[10]

Emily Nussbaum of The New Yorker also applauded the series and said, "This is astoundingly efficient storytelling, eight hours that pass in a blink, with even minor characters getting sharp dialogue, dark humor, or moments of pathos."^[11] Television critic Mary McNamara of Los Angeles Times said, "For the most part, and in absolute defiance of the odds, Stranger Things honors its source material in the best way possible: By telling a sweet 'n' scary story in which monsters are real but so are the transformative powers of love and fealty."^[12] The Wall Street Journal's Brian Kelly said, "Matt Duffer and Ross Duffer, brothers and the show’s creators, have done their homework when it comes to ’80s cinema. Whether you’re a fan of John Carpenter’s “The Thing” or “The Goonies” is more your speed, there’s plenty to like in Stranger Things."^[13]

• This article incorporates material derived from the "The Weirdo on Maple Street" article on the Stranger Things wiki at Fandom (formerly Wikia) and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License (16 September 2016).

• Stranger Things on Netflix
• "Chapter Two: The Weirdo on Maple Street" at IMDb
• Template:Tv.com episode